“Wonder Drug” for Infant Growth​—Love

At Philadelphia’s St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, tiny infants are regularly admitted for “failure to thrive.” They are usually much smaller and lighter than average and they suffer from severe diarrhea and dehydration. They cry constantly to be held. One six-month-old baby boy had a bald spot at the back of his head when he arrived, indicating that his parents hardly ever picked him up.

For some time, the theory was that such infants do not grow properly because their pituitary glands fail to produce a growth hormone. But doctors and nurses at St. Christopher’s believe that “in most cases there is a lack of stimulation, a lack of loving environment for the child’s psychological development.” A doctor at Boston Children’s Hospital reports: “It is when they go from being a sad, sick baby to a happy interacting child that they begin to grow.”

If parents were to take the view that children “are an inheritance from Jehovah,” as the Bible says, there would be no “lack of loving environment.” (Psalm 127:3) Surely, it takes time and effort to look after any inheritance and to make such assets grow. What role the growth hormone plays in infant development remains to be seen. But there is one “wonder drug” you can use safely to help your child grow into a healthy, normal individual​—LOVE.